Doctor Who_ The Hollow Men - Keith Topping [89]
Joanna looked away, tearfully.
Behind them, someone moved over broken glass.
Ace and Steven spun around.
„Steven?‟ said a voice from the darkness.
„Mother?‟
„I was so worried,‟ said the small woman, flinging herself into his arms. „You must come with me quickly. There has been a fire.‟
„I can see that. I should have been here!‟ Steven looked at his mother closely. „Are you all right?‟
„Yes, but Mr Luston and his wife were badly burnt, and your father is ill.‟
„Is he in hospital?‟
„No, he is in the kitchen. We... We don‟t want to leave the building. Something‟s happening on the green.‟
They found Mr Chen sitting on a chair, a thick pillow behind him. Both hands were covered in bandages, and his face ran with sweat. He appeared to be dozing fitfully, giving an occasional gasp of pain.
„He belongs in a hospital,‟ Ace told Steven.
„I belong in the grave,‟ said the old man, his eyes snapping open. „But not yet.‟
„Father,‟ said Steven, kneeling at the man‟s side, „what happened?‟
Chen reached out a hand towards his son. Through the strands of bandage his skin was blackened and raw. „We have kept the spirits at bay for so long,‟ said the old man.
„But now...‟
„I know, Father, I know,‟ said Steven.
Ace moved to the kitchen window and looked out into the street. „Company,‟ she said.
„How do they look?‟ asked Steven.
„Like a gang of Millwall bootboys, out on the town,‟ said Ace, moving back from the window. „They‟re after blood.‟
As she spoke, heavy blows began to rain down on the door.
CHAPTER 14
SACRIFICIAL BONFIRE
„Oh my God!‟
Denman‟s sudden cry cut through the low murmur of conversation in the car. The Doctor, Trevor and Rebecca looked up. A neat row of motionless scarecrows stretched across the road, marking the outer boundary of Hexen Bridge.
„Welcoming committee?‟ ventured the Doctor.
„I doubt it very much,‟ said Denman, changing gear and slamming his foot to the floor. With a squeal of protest the car shot forward, smashing into the line of manikins. One bore the full impact of the car, somersaulting on to the bonnet, then the roof, in a blur of straw and cloth. The creature landed on the road behind, a sickening mess of torn limbs. Rebecca and Trevor turned in time to see the thing pick itself up and resume its sentry position, apparently unharmed.
„Let‟s hope it‟s as easy to get out again,‟ said the Doctor.
To their left, on the village green, they could see alien tendrils writhing hungrily as the people of Hexen Bridge were consumed by the alien mass that pushed up through the earth. A pair of scarecrows crossed the road in front of the car, dragging a screaming man by his legs.
„That‟s Mr Tyley,‟ said Rebecca, reaching instinctively for the car door.
„Look out!‟ shouted the Doctor as Denman swerved to avoid the scarecrows. A telephone pole loomed massively in front of them.
Time slowed as they impacted. The Doctor felt a dizzying surge of forward momentum, then the tight constriction around his chest as the seat belt did its job and the whiplash as he was thrown backward into his seat.
The heartbeat of silence after the crash was ruptured by Rebecca, who was shouting incoherently. The Doctor looked to his right and saw a smear of blood, staining the cracked windscreen. Denman was slumped in the driver‟s seat, a deep cut above his nose.
„We‟ve got to get clear,‟ said the Doctor, throwing open the door and unsnapping his seat belt. „Help me with Mr Denman,‟ he said as Trevor pulled himself from the car. The Doctor glanced towards the green and saw the scarecrows dropping Tyley into the cavernous maw of Jack. The scream was shrill and inhumanly loud.
The noise cut off suddenly. The stickmen turned towards the car.
Inside A Taste of the Orient, Ace and Joanna moved cautiously through the restaurant towards the glass conservatory as Steven and his mother helped Mr Chen out of the kitchen. The front door of the restaurant reverberated with unfeeling blows.
Ace had taken a meat cleaver